


Roots

by rosebud666



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Twins, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, F/M, Goblet of Fire AU, Good Slytherins, Harry Has a Twin, Slytherin, Twin Potters, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-06 04:31:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5403080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosebud666/pseuds/rosebud666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Potter has always had a good relationship with her twin brother, Harry Potter. However, her place in Slytherin and her friendships can cause strife between them. For her fourth year, she had high hopes that she would be able to focus on her studies and stay out of trouble that always seemed to come with being a Potter, but for some reason she still can't seem to catch a break.<br/>AU in which Harry has a twin sister in Slytherin.<br/>I'm starting with Goblet of Fire and will continue from there.<br/>Warnings will be given if needed in beginning of every chapter I may also change ratings if needed.<br/>Eventual Draco/OC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Breakfast with the Weasleys

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I'm very excited to start posting some things to Archive of Our own. I started this story of Fanfiction, but I'll continue to update on both sites. Happy reading!  
> Also just a side note, I'm not always good with technology and I need time to get used to this site, I'll get better, I promise!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay haha so I'm going to need everyone to bare with me as I try to figure this site out, things might be a little odd for some time, apologies.

Chapter 1 : 

_An elderly man stared outside his dark window at the dimly lit room he was taking care of next door to his own quaint home. He lit the fire for his late night cup of tea trying to remember if for some reason he had left the light on. He jumped into action when he realized that he had not in fact left the light on and jumped to the wall where he kept his set of keys deciding that an intruder was in the building and needed to be removed._  
_He wobbled quickly through the hilly space between his house and the property he cared for until he could quietly unlock the unfortunately squeaky door. He tiptoed through the house up the stairs where he could hear voices speaking in hushed yet stern tones._  
_“No my lord, I only meant, perhaps if we were to do it without the twins,” a man resembling Peter Petigrew suggested._  
_“No!” A voice from the chair in the room that the caretaker was looking at snapped angrily at Petigrew, “The twins are everything!” Another man skinny and slightly unkempt ran next to the chair. “It cannot be done with them, and it will be done exactly as I say!”_  
_“I will not disappoint you my lord,” the man next to him promised._  
_“Good.”_  
_A large python slithered up the stairs and through the caretaker’s feet who jumped back and bit his finger to keep from letting out a shriek of surprise._  
_“First, gather our old comrades, send them another sign.”_  
_The snake slithered into the room where the men were talking and began to slither out the familiar language of parcel tongue to the men. The snake traveled up the side of the chair to look into the eyes of the man next to it then back to the man sitting within the old chair. The caretaker looked in baffled at the men’s loss of fear of the large predator._  
_“Nagini tells me, the old muggle caretaker is standing just outside the door,” the man in the chair rasped. Petigrew came to the door and opened it farther._  
_“Step aside Wormtail, so that I can give our guest a proper greeting.”_  
_Petigrew stepped to the side after leaving the caretaker with a mischievous smirk. The caretaker filled with a sense of sudden dred lifted his hands in defense, feeling as though something bad should occur._  
_“Avada kadavera!”_

A flash of green and a sudden jolt of pain shot through my spine. I gasped and arched my back to lift it from the scratchy cotton bedding I was sleeping on. I quickly fell onto the floor trying to relieve my back from the burning sensation. After a few heavy breaths I was able to calm my racing heart. I looked up to Ginny who was still sleeping in her flowery lilac bedspread. She had thankfully not awoken from my sudden outburst.  
I shakily stood up and walked over to the mirror she had hanging in her room and lifted up my nightshirt to look at my back. The long twisting lines that followed along my spine like a tree were all enflamed. I touched one branch that curved up from the middle of my back to fall just below my shoulder blade and winced at the shot of pain that went through.  
It was often assumed by the general public of wizards and witches, that I had not contracted a scar as my brother did because Voldermort had decided to kill my brother first and then myself, and therefore he had died before he had the chance to try to kill me, leaving me without a scar. That presumption was of course entirely a myth. Both my brother and I had been targeted by the attack that day and had been left with scars that we would bare our entire lives.  
I opened up my trunk, which I kept at the foot of my bed that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had set up for me and dug through it until I found the salve I had kept inside a small drawstring bag. Snape, one of the few who knew of my scar, had crafted it for me one late night after I had been sent to Madam Pomfrey in my first year after a rather nasty attack. Luckily I hadn’t felt much of any pain from my scar since my first year, but I would still carry it with me just in case.  
After a few moments the pain resided from my back and I slid a white cami, large shear white button up shirt, and a pair of tight skinny jeans on since it was nearly time for the rest of the house to get up anyway. I quickly brushed my hair and pulled some pieces away from my face to pin in the back. I found a pair of white canvas shoes then ran down to the kitchen where I could already hear Mrs. Weasley bustling about.  
“Good morning, what can I do for you,” I greeted Mrs. Weasley and pulled one of the many lacy and overly decorated aprons from the peg on the wall to wrap around myself.  
“Good morning my little morning flower,” Mrs. Weasley perkily looked about until she found me to the left of her and patted my cheek with a motherly smile. “Would you like to start the bacon, it’s on the left top shelf in the cold room.” I nodded and retrieved it from what would be a pantry in a normal muggle kitchen but instead was given an enchantment to keep the room as a cold as a refrigerator.  
I started to cook the mounds of bacon that should be able to feed a small platoon but instead could feed only a few Weasley boys. After the fourth batch of bacon the front door was forced open by luggage that could barely fit through it followed by an aggressive Hermione who was frustrated by the loads bags and trunks she had forced through the front door. Once she was able to finally get through the door herself she released the spell that kept the luggage afloat with a huff and blew a few strands of hair out of her face.  
“Hello Mrs. Weasley,” she sighed with half a smile, still recovering from the struggle.  
“Hello dear.” Mrs. Weasley wiped her eggy hands on her apron then scurried over to greet Hermione with a hearty hug. Hermione’s eyes bugged at me from over Mrs. Weasleys shoulder. I smirked and placed another six pieces of bacon onto the griddle.  
“Are the boys awake yet,” she asked after Mrs. Weasley released her.  
“At this hour? Of course not, the sun hasn’t set yet,” Mrs. Weasley joked. “Why don’t you go and wake the house if you don’t mind, breakfast is almost ready.”  
I had to make another three batches of bacon until Mrs. Weasley said that it was finally enough for the boys. By the time I had finished the bacon and had finished up the toast that Mrs. Weasley had started Hermione had all the boys sluggishly crawling down the stairs. Giny made her way down all on her own. I glanced at Harry and noticed a shiny spot on his forehead where his hair stuck. He was feeling some pain as well. I bit the inside of my cheek and pulled the last pieces of toast from the pan into the basket that Mrs. Weasley had them placed in.  
“Ronald, get your head up off the plate,” Mrs. Weasley scolded. He responded with a grumble. Hermione came from the upstairs bathroom with a book in her hand.  
“Ronald, get your head up off the plate,” she scolded and took her normal seat at the table.  
“I swear! I can’t even tell who is who anymore between the two of you,” he grumbled into his plate before picking his head up. He went right back to leaning his head against his arm with his eyes nearly shut. “Why aren’t Charlie, Bill, and Percy up, but we have to be?”  
“Because they have all passed their O.W.L.S. and they passed the apparation test,” Molly snapped at two very somber twins who were reminded everyday of their mothers disapproval of their poor exam grades.  
Molly began to place the food out on the table; in the time it had taken me to just cook the bacon, she had prepared two quiches, homemade marmalade, scones, and warmed up an extra ham pie that she had cooked up the night before just in case Ron’s appetite spiked again through the night. I picked up the turkey platter full of bacon and placed it right in front of where all four of the boys were sitting. They all immediately perked up to the smell of the meat in front of them.  
“So that’s the trick,” Hermione laughed to herself.  
“Good morning everyone!” Mr. Weasley waltzed into the kitchen holding his newspaper. He sat down and began to smear some marmalade onto a piece of toast. I poured him a cup of tea then moved down the line of the table.  
While living at the Dursleys, I leave the cooking to both Harry and Aunt Petunia; I had proved a very unable muggle cook in my years at their house. Whenever Harry and I would spend time with the Weasleys I liked to help Molly out with the cooking as much as I could since she would teach me some very easy spells on how to cook with magic. I still was not nearly as good as she was.  
We all ate our breakfast then waited for the boys to get changed and pack their bags for the day. I had already packed the night before; I planned and prepared for everything.  
“Why don’t you give me Harry and your lists for this year, just in case you’re not back in time for the year to start, dear.” Molly handed me a piece of parchment and a quill to write down the materials that we still needed for the year. I pulled out a few gold pieces I had left over from the previous year. I would restock on money every summer before heading to Hogwarts; I hadn’t spent as much as I had thought though my third year.  
I started to hear the thundering of the boys all running down the stairs, awake enough now to remember their excitement for the match we would soon be going to. I heard a sudden crash that made me jump, Mrs. Weasley simply carried about reading over the list I finished; she had grown accustomed to the noise and bustle. A few seconds later I could see Fred sliding down the stairs roughly and landing at the bottom of them with a solid thud.  
“You’re going to pay for that you blasted slug eater!”  
“Here we go,” I sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it. In case you were wondering, I decided to mix the movies and the books. I also decided to keep the fashion more modern since I am not entirely well versed in nineties fashion and am not a fan of it either (minus some aspects).


	2. The World Cup

Portkeys are perhaps one of the most inconvenient ways to travel. Harry, had landed right on top of me as we landed, leaving me with the sensation of having the air knocked out of me. We only had to walk for a little before we reached the campgrounds.  
Thousands of people from all over the world were dressed in green or red, supporting their preferred team for the win. I could hear several different languages at once, and the name Krum popping up in several different conversations. There were smells of people roasting over their campfires different types of meats and potatoes to celebrate with.  
“All right Amos, we’ll meet up with you before the game at six,” Mr. Weasley waved to Mr. Diggory. I breathed a sigh of relief; the man had been getting under my skin worse than Mr. Malfoy even could. All right, maybe not.  
Arthur led Ginny, Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Harry and I through the tents until we came to one small triangular shaped tent. Everyone began to pile in without question. Harry and I exchanged looks of confusion until Mr. Weasley gently pushed us forward into the tent. As soon as I stepped inside I realized how everyone fit. The inside was at least ten times the size of what it was on the outside.  
Ron immediately ran to the kitchen, his knapsack still tied around his shoulders. Fred and George plopped down at a table in the back lounging their long lanky legs across the table. Hermione and Ginny were taking their bags to the bedroom were several hammocks were all set up and layered on top of another. I took my bag and placed it next to the couch that was placed right near the entrance.  
“Ron, get out of the kitchen we’re all hungry. Fred, George, feet off the table.”  
“Feet off the table!” The boys both chimed and pretended to take their feet off but didn’t actually do so.  
I pulled out a book that I had stolen from Hermione’s collection and nuzzled into the couch. Sports weren’t really my thing. For a few hours I was able to ignore the boys buzzing about and fighting over who was going to win the Quidditch World Cup. By the time it was time to go, I had become so invested in my book that I didn’t notice the twins sneak up next to me. I had been right up to the part where Mestrophis was about to be revealed for his disloyalty towards his army when I was sent flying up in the air.  
My book shot up over my head and I took a big gulp of air in surprise when I felt myself being quickly lifted off the couch. I flailed my arms out until they found the shoulders of each of the twins.  
“Ireland!” The boys screamed facing each other, each holding me like a cradle from my right and left side. They bolted quickly out of the tent then flipped me over like one would do to a child. I let out a short yelp when my feet were sent over my head. As I mentioned sports were not my forte and neither was anything that was more physically active than flipping a page of a book.  
Harry, Hermione, and Harry came out of the tent followed by the other Weasley boys and Mrs. Weasley who were all also dawned in either red or green. I had apparently missed the face painting ceremony, as well as the appearance of Charlie, Percy, and Bill.  
We met up with the Diggorys again, Amos started to go off about how his son proved to be one of the best charmers known to wizard kind. While Mr. Diggory went on bragging Arthurs and Percy’s ear off we, including Cedric, all ran ahead and started purchasing some little trinkets to bring with us to the game. I purchased a five-hour tattoo from a charmer; it was a vine of shamrocks that moved. It traveled started at first at the very tip of my middle finger where the charmer had first placed his wand and started to wrap and grow up my finger to the rest of my hand.  
“Thank you,” Hermione and I spoke in unison then moved back to the group. I had purchased her the tattoo, she hadn’t brought any money with her to the game and I had no objections to lending her a bit. Harry had thought the same as I had apparently. He handed Hermione and I each an omnicular, an object very similar to a pair of binoculars that could also slow down movement for better definition of actions.  
“I can’t take these,” Ron awkwardly tried to avoid taking the omnicular from Harry.  
“It’s no big deal, I just won’t get you a Christmas present,” Harry waved Ron off and handed him the omnicular before moving on.  
We all walked to the field where the game was to take place. I could see the bright shine of the arena before I actually reached it. The arena had to be at least thirty or forty stories high. I had a strong distaste for heights; only my brother and Draco had figured that out. One was more than cautious when dealing with my fear and the other would often forget and suddenly remember after the chance for preventing the mental damage was far long and gone. Surprisingly to many Draco was the gentler handler.  
We began the trek up the many staircases regardless. I could feel the queasiness in my stomach grow more and more with each flight of stairs we passed. Eventually we reached at least the twentieth floor, Arthur was starting to wheeze a bit, but the excitement in his eyes did not waver.  
“Blimey Dad! How far up are we,” George yelled out, as we were about to ascend another set of stairs.  
“All the way up,” Mr. Weasley yelled forward to George who was at the front of our group. I groaned on the inside but forced myself to imagine that we were only climbing the same first floor flight of stairs over and over again so that I didn’t vomit all over. We finally reached the top of the stadium when I realized that I had actually climbed the first floor a total of forty-seven times. Seven more than what I had originally predicted. When I was able to see the sudden drop that allowed us to few the field I couldn’t resist myself from snatching Harry’s arm.  
“Ouch!” He grabbed at my hand that was surely bruising his skin. I decided that I was going through more mental pain than he was physically and didn’t let go.  
“Ah, here we are,” Arthur led us over to our small box. Of course right up against the front of the balcony. So that we had the best chance to fall off and possibly die. “Aren’t these just prime seats!” I grimaced and took my seat. I was so preoccupied on controlling my panicking state that I hadn’t taken in anything that was happening around me until I heard my name being picked up in a conversation.  
“And this is his sister, Rose Potter.” I jumped and looked around until I saw Cornelius Fudge introducing Harry and myself to some man that I didn’t recognize.  
“Harry, Rose, this is the Bulgarian Minister,” I put on my calm Slytherin face that I had been mastering through the years and smiled politely at him. The Prime Minister suddenly seemed to notice Harry’s scar then pointed excitedly at him then back at me.  
“Knew we’d get there in the end. Where Barty Crouch when I need him, the man doesn’t speak a spot of English. He’ll be here soon enough though, I see he sent up his house elf to keep his seats for him. Good thing too those Bulgarians have been snatching the seats. Ah! And here comes Lucius Malfoy.” Fudge turned to greet Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy and Draco who followed close behind. I smiled again politely at Lucius and his wife who returned the smile.  
“Fudge,” Mr. Malfoy shook hands with the Minister, “How are you? I don’t think you’ve met my wife Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?”  
“How do you do, how do you do?” Fudge flashed a large smile to Mrs. Malfoy and bowed a little. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, let me introduce you to Mr. Oblansk – Obalonsk – Mr… well, he’s the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can’t understand a damn word I’m saying anyway so never mind. And let’s see who else – you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?” Mr. Malfoy raised his chin and looked at the entire group we had come with.  
“ Good lord Arthur, what did you have to sell to get in the top box? Surely your house isn’t worth enough,” his tone was soft but his words were far from that. Fudge had been distracted by a firework that had went off like they had been for the past half hour.  
“Lucius has just donated a very generous amount to the St. Mungo’s hospital, Arthur. He’s here as my guest.” Fudge smiled politely at Mr. Weasley who in turn offered a strained and uncomfortable reciprocal.  
“How – how nice.”  
Lucius gazed over at Hermione whose face then turned slightly more pink than usual. The Malfoys hated muggles, and muggle born witches and wizards. They didn’t have an overly fond taste for half-bloods either. They really only approved of pure-bloods and supporters of pure bloods. They had once informed me that they believed that I took after my pure-blood side, and that they didn’t believe that my ‘unfortunate muggle born blood’ was as present in my body than as my brothers. I remember that day as the day I had literally bit a hole in my tongue. I had spent some time with the Malfoys every summer, I told the Dursleys I had a position at a muggle studies camp to teach witches and wizards how to become better at being normal. They of course approved.  
“Enjoy the game Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.” Lucius bowed his head at me and Narcissa offered a short smirk after glaring disapprovingly at my brother.  
The game went on without another thought of the Malfoys. After another hour the shock of the height we were at lessened and I could enjoy the rest of the game being only slightly terrified. Upon the end of the game when Krum had caught the snitch but still lost the game, I had never seen Fred and George Weasley even more excited. They enthusiastically accepted the bet they had made with Ludo Bagman.  
Everyone rushed out of the stadium. I however knew that I was going to need some time on the stairs. Coming down was always harder than going up.  
“Are you coming,” Hermione asked when she realized I was staying in my seat.  
“No, I’m going to watch the fireworks. I’ll meet up with you guys later.” She nodded and went down the stairs along with the rest of the group. I sat back while the place emptied out and watched the fireworks form different shapes and animations of course all were shamrocks, leprechauns, or the Irish flag.  
“Enjoy the game?” I looked behind me and found Draco standing by himself. He walked around the row of chairs separating us and sat down right next to me.  
“Yes, I actually did,” I crossed my arms and crossed my legs. Despite it being summer, being up so high in the night made it a little chillier than normal.  
“Let me guess, you’re waiting for people to leave so that you can go down without having to worry about people seeing you scared.” He had a smug face that I had seen him use quite often on my friends. We stared at each other for a moment until I sent a little spark at him from my wand, which I kept up my sleeve. He yelped and jumped in his seat a little. We laughed for a little then settled down again and enjoyed the rest of the fireworks in silence. A lot of our time together consisted of silence. We seemed to be comfortable with each other enough that we didn’t always have to fill the air with our voices. Neither of us was very fond of chit-chat either. When then last firework went off a half hour later we both began to stand up.  
Luckily there weren’t a large amount of people leaving at this point since many had already left, either bummed that their team had lost or so excited that they immediately wanted to go and celebrate. Draco and I slowly made our way down the stairs. I held on to the railing for dear life and tried not to look down through the grated stairs. The first set was the worst after some time the knowledge that I was getting closer to the bottom encouraged me to fear less. Draco walked silently next to me. I was more than thankful when the last step came up. We started to walk through but when he saw his parents with their backs turned to us while they were speaking to Goyle’s parents he stopped in his tracks.  
“Wait,” he grabbed my hand and pulled me into a closet that was right next to the bottom of the staircase. Draco started to inspect the small room as if looking for someone and threw a muffling charm on the door. I didn’t question him. He started to pull something out of his pocket slowly as if he were debating something within himself. He wouldn’t look at me while he did it, but he pulled out a chain with a silver pendant on it. “Father heard there is supposed to be an attack here at the tents late tonight.” He put the chain in my hand. “This should protect you against the hexes and jinxes that they normally use, but don’t take the chance it’s temperamental with the curses. Get out of here. Don’t tell anyone that my father knows, not even your idiot brother.” I gaped at him with my mouth open.  
“Who’s going to attack,” I asked surprised. He looked at me then shook his head.  
“I can’t tell you, just trust me.” He took the charm off the door and left the closet. I put the chain around my neck and stuffed it inside my shirt before leaving the room.  
“Ah, Ms. Potter,” Mrs. Goyle chimed seeing me over the shoulder of Mrs. Malfoy. I walked up next to Draco who was standing with his parents.  
“Good evening Mrs. Goyle, Mrs. Goyle, Gregory.” I concealed the panic that had built up in me. Gregory Goyle and I weren’t particularly close friends, we just tolerated each other since we both were friends of Draco. I tended to stay away from Crabbe and Goyle though when I could. The two had always been a nasty pair.  
“Did you come with Lucius and Narcissa, dear?” Mrs. Goyle asked sweetly. I had prior experience with Mrs. Goyle and her sweet conversations were typically the reciprocal of what her thoughts were.  
“No, my brothers friends invited me to come with them, they were given some seats and had some extra for my brother and I.” I knew better than to call Hermione or the Weasleys my own personal friends to the Malfoys or the Goyles. Draco knew that I did indeed enjoy their company, but the majority of pureblood families believed that I only tolerated them for the sake of my relationship with my brother. Family bonds were strong to many pureblood families, most thankfully didn’t question my liking of my brother.  
“The Weasleys,” Mr. Goyles face scrunched up as if he had just walked into a cloud of noxious gas. “You let the poor girls game be spoiled by a bunch of muggle lovers, Lucius?” I bit the inside of my cheeks and did not dare show any distaste for their conversation. Lucius laughed coolly.  
“I was not aware that she would be attending at all.” Lucius looked over to me with a sharp eye. I knew that since Draco and I had such a strong bond that whatever I did would reflect the Malfoy household. I had overheard Lucius many times bragging about how he had practically taken me in as a child of his own in the summer to save me some torment from the humiliation of living with muggles. Obviously I never viewed Mr. Malfoy as a father figure but I was often times thankful for that week of release from the Dursleys.  
“Thank you for the thought, however I’m afraid that I must be off. The excitement of the festivities has made me tired. I’ll see you both on the train.” I smiled politely to both before I took off to quickly reach the tent. I practically ran to the tent once I was out of eyesight of the Malfoys and Goyles.  
“Ah, there you are, I was beginning to get a bit worried,” I had almost ran into Arthur as I ducked and bolted into the tent.  
“Sorry, I wanted to see the rest of the fireworks.” I said quickly. I looked around at how unorganized and unpacked everyone was. It wouldn’t be a quick pack up when we had to leave. I wringed my hands as I tried to think. Ron, Fred and George were running around singing some Irish chant.  
“Don’t you think we should straighten up a bit, maybe pack back up some of our bags. I mean people can just walk right in the tent, there’s nothing stopping them from grabbing some of our stuff and leaving with it,” I suggested loudly so that everyone could hear. Percy seemed to take the threat seriously and started to pack up the small bag he had packed.  
“Oh, always such the worry wart you are.” Arthur patted my back. I groaned, my back still feeling a bit sore from the episode the night before. I shook my head and packed my bag up and even packed up Harry’s small bag a bit.  
The already loud campsite from everyone celebrating started to grow louder. At first I didn’t think it was the attack until I heard an ear piercing shriek. Fred and George were throwing shamrock confetti up in the air pretending to do a jig when Arthur cam running in from outside of the tent after another uproar from the crowd outside. I started to feel very uneasy and shakily was throwing everything into bags.  
“Sounds like the Irish have got their pride on,” George remarked.  
“Stop! It’s not the Irish,” He grabbed twins who were standing on the coffee table. “Get your things, we’re being attacked.” The screams were starting to get louder. Arthur grabbed Ginny’s bag and threw it over her head and pushed her over to Fred and George.  
“What do you mean,” Ron asked taking the quilt off his head that Fred had thrown on him.  
“Get her out of here,” he pointed to Fred and George. “Kids you all stay together.” He pointed to Harry, Hermione, Ron and myself. “Bill, Charlie, Percy, with me,” the four of them all pulled out their wands and Percy threw me his bag which he had shrunk quickly before they all ran out of the tent. Fred and George left their stuff and both grabbed one of Ginny’s arms with their other hand on their wand as they ran out.  
Hermione ran and grabbed her small bag. I grabbed Ron and Harry’s bag and pushed them into their hands.  
“Get moving,” I pushed them all since they were standing there confused. When we left the tent I thought we had stepped into a warzone. People were running and screaming, I saw several of them with singed hair and clothing. I could see the glow of fire just beyond some of the tents then those tents erupted into flames. More people suddenly came darting at us and pushed us all around. Hermione grabbed a hold of my shirt and Ron grabbed a hold of Hermione. The multitude of people running about us separated us from Harry.  
“Harry,” we screamed out realizing he wasn’t behind us. A person in a black robe and a silver mask suddenly appeared and pointed a wand at us.  
“Confringo,” a burst of flames erupted out from the tip of the wand. I didn’t even think as I lifted my wand.  
“Aqua eructo,” I pointed my wand and a giant cloud of steam built up in the middle where the fire and a jet of water my wand produced met. The fire stopped, presumably because the cloaked man was surprised. Hermione took the moment to grab us and run since the cloaked man couldn’t see through the thick cloud.  
“Harry!” Ron, Hermione and I were all shouting his name as we continued running through the panicking crowd. We kept running through the crowd trying to find him. Every dark haired teen we passed I yanked on to see if it could have been Harry. After a while we ran around the tents to pass past the group of men that were pillaging through the campsite. We would duck by a tent and wait for a bit then run behind the next one. The fires were starting to completely destroy the tents, leaving nothing but burnt wood and ash. We kept at it though. We kept running screaming his name out until our voices grew hoarse and our legs were going limp, but I couldn’t feel any of that. Losing my brother was not a possibility to me.  
Soon enough the place was entirely barren. The only movement was the flicker of dying fires and the slow creep of the fog and smoke that was moving along the grounds.  
“Harry!” Hermione screamed out.  
“Harry, where are you,” Ron let out a defeated sounding yell. We were looking out around the grounds, still dragging our clumsy tired feet up and over fallen down tents and rubble. I saw a quick dash of movement that looked to be a person.  
“Over there,” I started running toward the figure who was faced away from us. As I grew closer I saw that the figure was wearing the same black jacket that Harry had been wearing that day.  
“Harry!” I ran faster and nearly tackled him but he turned around just before I threw my arms around him. He caught me and returned the hug. Hermione and Ron soon followed.  
“We’ve been looking for you for ages. I thought we lost you,” Ron shook his head. I let go of Harry when I noticed he was antsy and looking at something up in the sky. I looked up at what caught his attention and felt a lurch in my stomach from the shock. I had seen that design. Lucius Malfoy had that tattooed on his left forearm along with Mr. Goyle. I had accidently walked in on them showing their tattoos to each other on one of the days I had spent with the Malfoys over the summer. They quickly hid it away but I had already seen the mark. Draco later regretfully informed me it was the dark mark. I don’t think he was ashamed to admit it so much as though he were scared.  
“What is that,” Harry asked, almost as soon as he finished the question a shock of pain went through my back. I staggered backward and clutched onto a broken tent that had been burnt except for the foundation. Hermione and Ron were fussing over Harry thankfully so I was able to get through the pain on my own. I dug through my bag that I packed but couldn’t find the salve through my foggy, pain filled mind.  
“Acio curse scar salve,” I pointed my wand into my bag and the salve jumped right out of the bag. I fumbled with the lid but smeared it on my back under my shirt and gritted my teeth until the salve started to calm my burning skin. I ran over to Harry after I was able to think again and slathered a little of the salve onto his forehead. He started to breath normally again and I could tell that the pain was dimming down. We apparently weren’t allowed to have a second to fully relax. About six sudden bursts of smoke appeared six men all with their wands out.  
“Stupefy!” The men all yelled in unison sending a six red sources of light in our direction. Before the hexes could reach us I (without knowing) deflected the spells to all travel upward. That pendent Draco had given me seemed to boost my instinct.  
“Stop!” I heard Arthur Weasleys voice yelling from past the men. He ran towards us desperately, “that’s my son!” Barty Crouch followed him running at us. “Harry, Rose, Ron, Hermione, are you alright?”  
“Which of you conjured it?” Crouch yelled pointing his wand in our face.  
“Crouch, you can’t possibly,” Arthur seemed flabbergasted.  
“That is a lie, you’ve been discovered at the scene of the crime!”  
“Crime?” Harry asked in unison.  
“Barty they’re just kids.” Arthur seemed seriously confused and almost worried for the chief inspector.  
“What crime,” Harry insisted.  
“It’s the dark mark Harry, it’s his mark.” Hermione whispered to him.  
“Voldemort, those people tonight in the masks they’re his too aren’t they, his followers?” Harry asked Mr. Weasley. He nodded.  
“Death eaters.” Arthur confirmed to Crouch whose expression grew serious in a terrified manner.  
“Follow me.” He motioned for the other five men to all follow him in the direction he was running to. Harry hesitated a moment then stepped forward calling after Crouch.  
“Um.. There was a man before…” Barty Crouch looked back to Harry with wide eyes. Harry point just to the right of where Crouch was already heading, “There.”  
“All of you this way!” We watched the men all run off.  
“A man harry who,” Arthur asked.  
“I dunno, I didn’t see his face.” He looked at me for a moment then turned his attention to the ominous design in the night sky. Arthur then began to pull us away.  
“You don’t need to see this, let’s get going. Molly will be sick with worry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Last Day of Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also there is a bit of adult language in here for anyone that wants to avoid it, (mild spoiler) it is located after Arthur comes home from work.

We walked quickly back to the portkey, Mr. Weasley had his wand at the ready the entire time as Harry held a lumous in the front so that we could find our way around. We all should have been exhausted but everyone seemed alert and ready to return to the Burrow. When we approached the hill where the portkey was we all quickened our pace. We all waited for Arthur to give us the go ahead to grab a hold of the portkey.   
“Ready everyone? One, two, three,” we were all sucked into the swirling vortex and thrown about. This time I remembered the trick that Mr. Weasley had shown us upon his landing at the World Cup. I cycled my legs like I was riding a bike and stumbled only a little as my feet touched the ground. Harry and Ron were both flopped on the ground, stiffly trying to get up. Hermione, being the smart witch she was, also took head of Arthurs mini lesson earlier on and also landed with a little more grace than the two struggling to get off the ground.  
“Alright there boys?” Arthur slapped Ron on the back who then groaned, probably already trying to get over the soreness he felt throughout his body.   
We walked on still with a quick pace, still on edge with our wands close to us. The night sky, which had been clear during the game, had grown cloudy as if the world itself were cringing from the traumatic scar that was cast upon the sky earlier. After a half hour of stumbling quickly through the dark a faint light could be see from over the top of a small hill we were climbing. As we reached the top we could see the Burrow and a few lights lit in the windows and doorway. I could hear Hermione breathe a sigh of relief.  
Mrs. Weasley was sitting on a rocker on the front patio clutching her embroidery with firm hands, squinting out into the fields around her. She probably couldn’t see us as well as we could her since she was within the safe light of the house and we were hidden in the shadows of the night.  
“Hello Molly,” Arthur called out, as we were yards away from the house. Molly snapped her head to where the sound came from and jumped up from her chair dropping the embroidery, which softly fell to the ground after the short soft cling that signaled the needle hitting the old, worn wood.  
“Arthur,” she called out stepping off the patio walking toward us.  
“Over here,” Arthur picked up his pace a bit so that he was in line of site to Mrs. Weasley.  
“Oh, thank goodness. Are you alright, are the kids all with you?” She threw her arms over his neck and left her hands on the sides of his head as she asked about us.  
“Right behind him, mum,” Ron called and we all walked up behind Arthur who had ran a bit forward. She threw her hands forward grabbed Ron by the shoulders and hugged him just a bit tighter than she did Arthur.   
“Are you all alright,” she ran her eyes over all of us, seeming to need to make sure we were all there by placing her hands on all of our cheeks.   
“We’re okay Mrs. Weasley,” I said softly. She took a deep shuddering breath. Her motherliness would surely cause her a heart attack one day.  
“Right then,” she pulled herself away standing up straighter than she had before, “off to bed, all of you. It’s nearly three in the morning.” We all nodded and walked tiredly up the many-storied house and to our perspective rooms. I pulled out the first night dress I could find and slipped into bed. Mrs. Malfoy had been appalled when she had seen me in my cotton shorts and large t-shirt that I would typically wear to bed and insisted that I throw the rags out. The next morning she had three bags of nightdresses, robes, and slippers for me to wear. When I returned to the Dursleys I was more than happy when Aunt Petunia handed me a pair of Dudley’s old pajama pants that she was going to throw out and a large t-shirt that he had snagged a hole in the armpit. It took a good three washes before I felt comfortable to wear it.  
Hermione and I both were quiet since Ginny was already asleep in bed. The bed I had been sleeping in had been transformed into a bunk for Hermione to sleep on top of. She climbed in first and after only a minute or two I could hear her subtle snore.   
I breathed out and rolled on my stomach. Feeling my back relax from the strain it took from laying on it. All I could do was lay with my eyes open thinking about everything that had happened that day and if maybe Voldemort was returning.

The next morning I woke as I heard Molly bustling about in the kitchen. I must have only fallen asleep an hour beforehand. I had also always been a light sleeper. Light sleeping was necessary being a Slytherin. Trust wasn’t a common trait the housemates possessed, which led to many trying to snoop through belongings. While I had nothing physical to hide, I didn’t trust that they wouldn’t create a lie out of the ordinary.  
I sat up from the bed and tied a robe around my body not feeling like dressing quite yet and went down to the kitchen. Breakfast this morning was a little less festive than the one beforehand, I only was asked to boil some water for shredded wheat and pull out some sugar, milk, and honey for people to use. Shredded wheat was probably my favorite breakfast. I noticed as we prepared breakfast that Mrs. Weasley was very quiet. I could tell she was wrapped up in the events of the night before. Nothing seemed to bring her out of her trance of cooking until their owl smashed into the kitchen window. We both snapped our heads up to see what the noise was then watched as the old owl fell from the windowsill to the ground outside.  
“Oh,” Mrs. Weasley grumbled, “would you go get him, dear?” I nodded and walked outside to grab the poor exhausted owl. I stroked his head gently and lifted him up on my forearm, grabbing the letter that he held.  
When I entered the room house again Mr. Weasley was talking in the family room to someone, who I presumed was Percy since the conversation was based around the Ministry. I held out the note to Mrs. Weasley.  
“Thank you, would you mind giving that to Arthur?” I nodded and walked into the living room. I was slightly surprised to not find Percy in the room but instead Amos Diggory, but not his full self. Instead, I found Arthur sitting on a footrest crouched over some burning embers talking into the face of Amos Diggory. I hid my surprised and cleared my throat not wanting to interrupt rudely. Mr. Diggory quieted a bit and Arthur turned to look at me with his nightcap still lopsided on his head.  
“This just came for you Mr. Weasley.” I held out the letter toward him and walked away only hearing the last bit of the conversation.  
“Please Arthur, we need you.” I bit my lip. Mr. Weasley was a hard working man. He loved his family more than anything and did all that he could to keep money coming into their household and to keep them safe. I respected him more than any rich pureblooded man for that. After a few moments, Arthur came into the kitchen.  
“The ministry needs me to come in and straighten out some publicity situations. That Rita Skeeter is causing quite a ruckus. I’ll try and be back for dinner Molly.” He walked over and kissed his wife on her head and seeming a bit frantic.  
“When are you going.”  
“I’ll be getting dressed and saying bye to the kids then heading out.”  
“What about breakfast?” Molly had always had a thing about people eating.   
“I’ll take this thank you!” He grabbed a piece of toast and put it in his mouth as he ran up the stairs. Molly went on to shake her head and hand me the large pile of plates to set out on the table.  
“Might as well call them down for breakfast while you’re at it Arthur,” she yelled up the stairs after him. I smirked and knew that it would take more than Arthurs sweet and soft morning words to fully wake them and have them come down. In fact I looked forward to it. I wasn’t normally the type of person to enjoy watching people suffer, but when Mrs. Weasley was inflicting the annoyance it was the most entertaining event.  
Arthur ran down the stairs merely fifteen minutes later and kissed Mrs. Weasley again. I left the room with my tea and sat down on patio chair in the backyard. The morning sun was still a little pink. I waited and sat like that thinking of the short dream I had had the night before. It wasn’t more than a few seconds, but I could see Peter Pettigrew holding a snake’s fang to a bottle while the venom dripped from the teeth. I know that I needed to ask Harry if he was dreaming these as well. We obviously had both been feeling the pain from our scars but I don’t know if he knew of my pain as well.  
“Boys you come down for breakfast now,” I heard Molly yell up the stairs. I stood up and went inside and found Hermione and Ginny sitting at the table with their cups of coffee. I sneered at the stuff.  
“Looking like a true Slytherin you are,” Ginny remarked at my sneer. I smirked and sat down.  
“That poison will kill you one day.” I said as I took another delicious sip of my tea.  
“But it has already saved my life so many times,” Hermione imitated me taking a deep gulp of her coffee before scrunching up her face in pain. “Hot.” She leaned her head forward and clutched her throat.  
“Exactly.” I muttered and fetched her a cup of water.  
“I told you to come get breakfast! Don’t make me get the bucket, Fred Weasley,” Mrs. Weasley yelled from upstairs. Hermione giggled and looked up at me while I was smirking. Ginny seemed unfazed and continued to read the newspaper she had gotten from Pigwidgeon, who was now excitedly flying around the outside of the house.  
After breakfast Fred and George suggested a game of quidditch, which I wanted very much to. I nodded my head slowly as they stared at me with large pleading eyes.  
“Alright,” the twins both clapped hands and raced upstairs to change. Ginny was already dressed and headed out to the field to set up the game and pull the brooms out for us. I figured now would be a good time to talk to Harry. Hermione and Ron both ran upstairs and Mrs. Weasley was out in her garden pulling some weeds out.  
“Wait,” I grabbed a hold of his arm and watched the others run up. He turned around expectantly.  
“What?” I let out a sigh of annoyance at his attitude.  
“It’s something important Harry,” I furrowed my eyebrows together.  
“Alright, what is it?” He rolled his eyes.  
“I had a dream the other night.” His attention suddenly snapped up and I knew that I didn’t need to ask him anything else to know that he had also dreamt it.  
“About Peter Pettigrew and two other men,” he asked. I nodded.  
“And I woke up because my back was burning.” He nodded as well, I could tell that we were both thinking of the same grim meaning that could be behind the dreams, pains, and dark mark.  
“I sent Sirius a letter,” Harry said.  
“Alright, let’s see what he says and I think we should talk to someone at school.” I twisted my fingers in my hand knowing that both Harry and I found faith in different characters.  
“Right, I thought of sending Dumbledore an owl but I thought it would sound stupid.” I took the turn to roll my eyes. I didn’t trust Dumbledore as far as I could throw him. The man had always seemed to be up to something.   
“I don’t think we should tell Dumbledore.” I crossed my arms and tilted my chin up.  
“Who then? Snape!” I frowned at the way Harry spit Snape’s name out as if it were the earwax Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean.  
“Fine, let’s just keep it between us and Sirius.” I had no actual intention of doing that and was set on meeting with Professor Snape later to discuss what we both had experienced.   
The game had gone terribly. Much like the games for the next weak went, since that was mostly what we did at the Weasleys. I had fallen off the broom more times than I had even come near the bludger. I never saw the damn snitch and the only time I actually touched the bludger with my bat was when I tried to block it from smashing into me and of course throwing me off the broom.   
“You okay Potter,” George asked floating ten feet above me. I nodded then hoarsely replied.  
“I think I’ll keep score for a bit.”   
We played until the sun was setting and Mrs. Weasley demanded that we come in and eat since we had all (except Ronald of course) skipped lunch that day.  
She had set up dinner outside since the night was so perfect and we ate in a merry and relaxed fashion. The only thing missing was Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley set aside a large plate for him before we ate though; Ron who had always been a big eater was going through another growth spurt. After dinner we all gathered in the family room. Hermione and I were on the couch reading. We exchanged books and wanted to finish before school started. Hermione and I tended to stay away from each other during the year. There were too many situations where the Slytherins who I was mostly around would make snide, disgusting comments on Hermione’s non-magic heritage. If they didn’t, they would ream me out later for socializing with her.   
Bill and Ron were playing chess and talking about Rita Skeeter and her outlandish reports she had made. Charlie was darning a fireproof balaclava and Harry was polishing his broom. Fred and George, however, were huddled in the corner writing whispering to each other. I frowned and looked up from my book when I suddenly heard Mrs. Weasley quiet herself. She was looking at the boys in the corner.  
“What are you two up two?” Her voice called out.  
“Homework,” Fred lied.  
“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re still on holiday.”  
“Yeah, we’ve left it a bit late,” George added to Fred’s lie. While the lie wasn’t totally off their character, I knew for a fact that still wouldn’t do homework even this late.  
“You’re not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you? You wouldn’t be thinking of re-starting Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?” Hermione looked up over her book to watch the twins have it served to them.  
“Now mum,” Fred turned around with his hands in front of him ready to start an argument that I was positive wouldn’t pass, “If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?” I bit my lip to keep from laughing. George had told me how when they got back the other night Mrs. Weasley had thrown herself on them apologizing and saying that she was mortified that the last thing she could have said to them was that she was aggravated with them over OWLS. The rest of the room also all laughed.  
The clock in the kitchen chimed signaling that someone’s position was changing. Mrs. Weasley looked over.  
“Your father’s on his way home.” Mrs. Weasley stated. Only a few seconds later there was a pop and we could hear Mr. Weasley approach the door. We all greeted him and waited for him to come back in with his dinner tray.  
“Well the fat’s really in the fire now,” he was talking to Mrs. Weasley but I think that we all were trying to hear the conversation. “Rita Skeeter’s been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups to report.” I took note of Ms. Skeeter’s tendency to screw people over. This was not a woman to piss off. Somehow the topic of house elves came up and sent Hermione into a frenzy against Percy. The subject was the fire to light her TNT. I also took note not to mention house elves around her.  
“You should all go make sure that you’ve all packed properly for tomorrow.” Mrs. Weasley saved us all from having to endure that argument any longer.  
Hermione, Ginny, and I all ran up the stairs. I took everything out of my trunk and repacked everything pack in, crossing what I did have off my list. I did notice that there was one aspect of the list that I found curious. A formal dress was added to the list for the year.  
“Here you go Ginny dear,” Mrs. Weasley handed Ginny a cloth wrapped package. Ginny opened it up and smiled.  
“It’s lovely mum, thanks.” I could see pink and blue fabric that seemed to be of a formal dress.  
“What are the formal dresses for,” I asked confused and looking at the list again.  
“It’s a surprise, you’ll find out tomorrow when you lot get there.” She started to shut the door. I felt a small bit of panic rise in me when I realized that there was no way I would be able to get a formal dress by tomorrow.  
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Mrs. Weasley popped back in the room and pointed to me. “Don’t worry about getting your dress dear, I got a letter from Remus saying that he was going to take care of it.” I was confused but I allowed it to slide.  
“Alright, thank you Mrs. Weasley.” I repacked my trunk up and climbed into bed. The exhaustion from the endless rounds of quidditch finally catching up to me sent me straight into my dreams, more like nightmares, which I would hardly call a break from the numerous meetings between my face and the ground caused by falling off a broom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case that little bit of the dream confused anyone who hasn’t read the books, in the books Peter ‘milked’ Nagini for Voldemort to drink from. Milking a snake means to take the venom from the fangs haha the first time I read the book I was certain that it meant he was literally milking the snake like a cow. Wrong.


	4. Return to Hogwarts

Arthur had been called in for work again the next morning. He said goodbye to everyone before he left, knowing he wouldn’t see them for a while. We all made it to Kings Cross Station in one piece but very soaked from the large amount of rain we had found ourselves in. We each had our own carts and pushed them through the wall between platform 9 and 10, being careful not to alarm any muggles on the way. I took a deep breath of air in.  
We all dropped our luggage off then went to say goodbye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie who had come with us.  
“Don’t worry,” Charlie winked and hugged Ginny, “you might be seeing me sooner than you think.” I eyed him for a moment.  
“Why,” Fred seemed both curious and annoyed.  
“You’ll see,” his smirk was evil enough I swore that it reminded me of Urquharts. Fred had an unnatural curiosity at times. If he couldn’t find out about something he wanted to know it would bother him for days or at least until he could find out what it was. Bill, being his brother, knew this. “Yeah, I wish I were back at Hogwarts the year.” He broke his playful banter with his brother to look longingly back at the train.  
“Why,” Fred insisted.  
“You’re just going to have an interesting year, I might even get some time off to come and watch.”  
“Watch what!” Fred stuffed his hands in his pockets angrily sensing that his brother wasn’t going to tell. The whistle blew letting us know that it was time to get back in the train and say our final goodbyes.  
“Thank you for your hospitality Mrs. Weasley,” I smiled softly disregarding the fuming child Fred was being as he stewed next to me.  
“Yes, thank you.” Hermione piped up and gave Mrs. Weasley a hug as well as Harry. I stayed where I was. I wasn’t a big fan of physical contact.  
We split up from there. I flashed a quick smile at Harry and left the group to go find where Draco had settled into. I found him shockingly right next to Harry’s compartment. I wanted to puke as soon as I saw the position him and Pansy were resting in. Pansy was leaning against him staring out the window to her parents. She had her hand resting on his thigh. While she may have been pretending innocence to him, I knew that later today she would be making comments in our dormitory on how he was showing growth in their non-existent relationship  
“Hello half-and-half,” I had a sudden visual in my head of me slipping a Slytherin decorated mask over my face and beating the senses out of Pansy. Draco shot a look of disgust in Pansy’s direction and sharply shoved her off him, then made eye contact with me before turning to look out the window again.  
“Hello Parkinson.” I sat down across from Draco and pulled Artemis, my cat, out of her cat carrier and placed her on my lap. I happened to know that Pansy’s biggest fear was of cats, thanks to Remus and his defense against the dark arts class on boggarts.  
“Where are your parents Draco,” I asked stroking the purring cat, ignorantly giving Pansy lovey eyes.  
“There, over there,” he pointed over toward my part of the window. I looked out and saw them speaking to each other. Mrs. Malfoys nose was scrunched up like a feather was stuck under it and if she relaxed her nose it would cause her to sneeze. The caught sight of me and politely smiled. I returned their smile with a subtle nod and returned to relax against the back of my seat. I had hoped that Tracey Davis or even Daphne Greengrass would come in and fill the seat next to mine before anyone else could but instead Blaise Zambini came and claimed it, followed by Crabbe and Goyle who took the two seats on the end. I was thankful to have Blaise there instead of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. While he wasn’t a supporter of muggle born wizards he kept to himself and was better than most of Slytherin.  
The train started to move.  
“Tell me what’s happening!” I heard Fred’s voice scream from down the train over all of the voices in Kings Cross Station. I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from smiling.  
“Down right idiots those two are,” Goyle said as he played with door of the compartment seeing how hard he had to slam the door to make his finger her.  
“Indeed,” I drawled. Blaise casted a look in my direction, he seemed just as disappointed in our classmate as I did.  
Pansy leaned over Draco’s lap to wave to her parents’ goodbye. Artemis was startled by her sudden jump and hissed at her sending her flying back into her seat with a startled expression.  
“Cat caught your tongue,” I asked feeling right back where the two of us had left off. I could see Blaise smirk from his seat. While he may support purebloods, he didn’t seem to support the impropriety that many pureblooded children in Slytherin showed. I turned my attention back to Draco.  
“How are your mother and father fairing Draco?” He waved one last time as his parents passed by our window. Then looked up at me to answer.  
“They are doing well, father is just unhappy that mother made me come back to this dump of a school.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know.” He now started bragging to everyone in the compartment. “He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man’s such a Mudblood-lover –“ I internally cringed at his used of language, “and Durmstrang doesn’t admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn’t like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do.”  
“I suppose the best way to defend against the Dark Arts would be to actually understand how it works.”  
“Why would we need to defend ourselves against the Dark Arts if we learn it,” Goyle snapped at me. He had never liked me from the beginning. Even though he was one of Draco’s loyal followers, he was the most discriminatory boy I had ever had the misfortune of meeting.  
“Just because you are learning dark arts doesn’t mean that someone isn’t going to use it against you.” I know that my voice had gotten dark and the thought surely got to Goyle who now snapped his attention to gaze off to the side. I pulled out my book and spent the rest of the train ride trying to ignore the rest of the conversations Crabbe, Goyle, Draco, and Pansy were having. Blaise seemed to take after my lead and pulled out a book of his own.  
I only looked up about two hours later when Draco left the cabin followed by the three idiots. I could hear Ron’s voice through the half open cabin.  
“We saw him right up close, as well. We were in the Top Box,” he sounded excited and I knew he was talking about the Quidditch World Cup.  
“For the first and last time in your life, Weasley.” Draco’s voice carried back into our compartment. I shook my head and closed the door, not wanting to hear the fight that would probably break out between them. When I sat back down, Blaise had his book in his lap and was looking at me from the corner of his eye.  
“Don’t seem so worried or they’ll think you actually like them.” He said softly so that no one outside of the compartment could hear. I took my seat again.  
“I was not aware that wishing to shut a door showed signs of concern.” I said without emotion and opened my book again. I could still hear the faint sound of the argument happening in the hallway and tried to block it out. What I had learned about Draco was that he hardly ever was cruel to a persons face unless they had given them a reason. In my memory I could pinpoint the moments that each of the trio had given him the snobbery that led him to his bullying of them. It’s not that their actions as young children gave Draco the okay to treat them as he did, but I could understand at the least why he disliked them. He tended to reciprocate the attitudes others showed him.  
A few minutes later I heard the doors open again and the boys all sat down. I noticed that Pansy had not moved and stayed frozen in the doorway. I looked up and found her having a staring match with Artemis who was sitting on her seat.  
“Apologies, Parkinson,” I leaned forward and picked up Artemis with a smirk on my face. The rest of the train ride went on without any more annoyances. I had gotten up just an hour before the train was to arrive and put on my Slytherin uniform.  
As I passed by a compartment to head back to my own I flung myself backward as sparkling firework flew out and nearly missed my head. After I heard the pop that would signal its finally I looked around for the culprit. Fred and George, who else? I stared at them with a very unamused expression.  
“Sorry, you’re a Slytherin again mate.” George smirked and was ready to rev up another one. I quickly shuffled down the hall and ran into my compartment again.  
“I mean can you actually believe that his own family wouldn’t tell him.” I caught what seemed to be the end of a conversation Malfoy was having with the rest of the people in the compartment.  
“Who doesn’t know what,” I asked pulled a piece of metal out of my hair that had been remnant of the firework.  
“Weasley not knowing of the Tri Wizard Tournament,” Malfoy laughed.  
“Oh,” I replied not letting out that I didn’t know what he was talking about. Whenever I mentioned that I didn’t know something about the wizarding world, it spread like a wildfire throughout the house how my muggle upbringing was a disgrace. Not that I thought Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were necessarily Mary Poppins and Bert, but living in the muggle world was not a disgrace.  
I listened to their continued speculation on the Tournament and was able to figure out the basics of what was happening. There was to be a large game hosted at Hogwarts at which two other schools, Durmstrang and Beauxbaton, would be attending.  
“How much do you want to bet Potter is going to be entering?” I looked up from my book at the mention of my name. Crabbe had just asked the compartment about my brother.  
“Not you Potter,” he snapped. I rolled my eyes. Why were those two growing more stupid every year?  
“My name is Rose,” I corrected him.  
“You’re still a Potter,” he mumbled.  
“Leave her alone Crabbe,” Draco sneered, I was lucky enough that even though there was nothing to be done to stop the entire house of Slytherin from casting disapproving eyes at me, that Draco kept his goons from making life as miserable as they made Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s.  
Another hour later and we found ourselves stepping off the train. I pulled my cloak hood up and handed Artemis to the steward to take to my bed. Draco and I somehow ended up at the end of the line to get on a carriage. He had tried to pull us through to the front but was only stopped by Hagrid who insisted that he go to the back of the line. I decided to go to the back with him knowing that he would only be even more miserable to be forced onto a carriage with a random second year. To make matters worse it was still down pouring.  
“You know, I really hate this school.” He plopped down on the seat of the carriage with a pout similar to a child. I sat down calmly across from him with a smirk.  
“It’s not so bad if you don’t cause a commotion every few minutes.”  
“Who are you to talk, you’ve almost gotten yourself killed every year?” I squinted my eyes at him. He had a point but I didn’t like his bringing it up. “You should enter the Tournament this year, don’t want to ruin your reputation.” I rolled my eyes this time and remembered the chain that he had given me nearly a week earlier. I held it out to him. He shook his head.  
“With your luck you’re going to need it, yeah?” He cracked a bit of a smile and nodded to me to put it back on.  
It was a great relief when we finally reached the interior of the castle. Nearly every fireplace we passed along the way to the great hall was lit to warm the cold and drenched students who walked in.  
“Rose,” I heard an excited voice call from the Slytherin table. I looked and found Tracey Davis waving to me along with Daphne Greengrass across from her smiling politely in my direction. Tracey jumped up from her seat and waited for me to near her. She threw her arms around my back. I patted her back kindly; I was not at all accustomed to physical contact despite our friendship since first year. She pulled me down next to her so that Blaise was across from me and Daphne was next to him and still across from Tracey. Draco took a seat next to me.  
Tracey excitedly went on asking about my summer and telling me of the trip her family took to the Alps, Tracey was one of the very few muggles that were in Slytherin. Her family of course was still wealthy and well respected in the muggle world, and she did not for one moment let the comments on her bloodline bother her. Instead she would spit back in their face that she had royal blood, and that if they dared touch her they would be thrown in prison, which was kept watch by the queen’s guard. Most people in Slytherin were pureblood and of course had no idea what she was talking about but understood prison and queen and backed off.  
The first years came through the hall and were all sorted; a few more joined Slytherin which earned our applause. The sorting hat had given them a new song for the year. Next, Dumbledore walked up to the podium to give a speech.  
“Well now that we are all settled in and sorted,” he began his speech, “I’d like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event, the TriWizard Tournament.” I could see Fred and Georges heads perk up from across the hall. They slapped hands together and started bragging about that they would most definitely be entering. “For those of you who do not know, the TriWizard Tournament brings together wizards from three schools for a series of magical contests. For each school a single student is selected to compete. To let me be clear, if chosen you stand alone. Trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint hearted. Now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbaton Academy of magic and their headmistress Madam Maxime!” The hall doors squeaked open at the close of his sentence and a large crowd of girls scurried into the room dressed in baby blue dresses and blue caps. Their blue heels clicked delicately across the stone.  
They danced and sashayed down the aisle as one younger girl flipped and cartwheeled her way down until she met up with one of the older dancers and their giant head mistress joined up with them. The woman was nearly as tall as the doors to the hall and she was dressed in all red fur. I never thought I would meet a person larger than Hagrid but I was surely mistaken. Blaise was eyeing these young women; they were all very finely dressed and took well care of themselves. If it wasn’t against his nature, I could have seen him drooling.  
“And now, for our friends from the north, please great the proud sons of Durmstrang and their High Master Igor Karkarof.” The doors opened again and a herd of sturdy boys marched in rotating long thick poles that sparked as they slammed them against the ground. Their quick, strong pace was much sturdier than the airy girls had been. The young men dropped their sticks purposefully and either ran or flipped to the front of the hall showing off Karkarof and the world-renowned seeker, Victor Krum. A phoenix made of fire flew throughout the hall and ended at Dumbledore’s feet, a greeting from Durmstrang I presumed in honor of Dumbledore. He held his hands open at the offering, his eyes bright with amusement.  
“Alboos,” a thick Northern European accent could be heard from where I sat as High Master Karkarof gave Dumbledore a sturdy hug. The later walked up to the podium again and smiled to us again.  
“I have two words for you,” he gave a moment for thought, “tuck in.” The feast was spread across the tables as normal and as tradition Crabbe and Goyle were the first to through food on their plates. I looked up to the table where the teachers all sat and noticed that there was no one sitting in place of the defense against the dark arts potions but then guessed that perhaps one of the new head masters would take on the role. I glimpsed at Professor Snape who as usual was not eating and instead was just staring out into the sea of students looking to give out detentions even though lessons hadn’t even started. We ate our fill and caught up with each other from our summer adventures and jumped back into our customary quarrels. Some of Hogwarts was good and some was down right torture.  
As we were close to finishing our meals, four men escorted a tower about the size of Hagrid into the Great Hall upon a wooden pallet. The object was very well decorated as if it were constructed of gold trimmings on fine white granite. After another fifteen minutes when most were finished with their meals, we were forced to give our attention back to Dumbledore for a change.  
“Your attention please!” The hall quieted down and all students turned their heads to watch what Dumbledore had to say. “I’d like to say a few words. Eternal glory! That is what awaits the student who wins the TriWizard Tournament, but to do that this student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks. For this reason the ministry has seemed fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Mister Bartemis Crouch-“ a clash of lightning from the ceiling cut off our Head Master and rang thunder throughout the hall. A few people started to shriek starting within the first year students. I frowned as Draco started to panic next to me. Bravery had never been his thing and it never would be.  
A burst of swirling light caught everyone’s attention from a side door near where the teachers all sat. A silhouette of a large man could only be seen at first until the hall decided to return to normal and reveal the intriguing character. The man stood with one metal leg, on robotic eyeball and several indents in his face that indicated a slash wound that had healed oddly. Many students started to mutter amongst themselves. Part of me wondered if the sudden outburst from the ceiling had been a defense that the school had been demonstrating against the stranger.  
“Alistair Moody,” Draco whispered to me, his breath was still off from his fright.  
“Who?”  
“An auror, ex-auror. Went a little mad from his work, not the type of man to get friendly with,” Tracey informed me from my right. She may not be the brightest bulb in the box but she knew everyone and what they were worth. I looked back up to the table where the teachers were and saw that they all were even staring at the man with looks of discomfort. I looked back to Moody and nearly jumped when I found his robotic eye to be staring straight at me. Dumbledore greeted him kindly then offered him to sit down at the teachers’ table. He was our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  
“After due consideration, the Ministry has concluded that for their own safety no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name in for the TriWizard Tournament,” before he could finish students began to rebel against him, starting with Fred and George of course who actually took to picking up the mashed potatoes and attempting to throw them. Thankfully all of the food in the hall was charmed so that it couldn’t be thrown on purpose. “This decision is final.” Crouch was now overcome by the loads of student screaming on top of him to the point that Dumbledore had to step in.  
“Silence!” His yell was louder than any I had heard in my time at Hogwarts. The students dulled their screams to murmurs and now watched with remorse as Dumbledore held his wand up to the tower that the men had brought in shortly before. As he dragged down his wand the beautiful stonework melted to reveal a simple large goblet made of stone. After a moment, a brilliant blue fire erupted from the top. “The goblet of fire, anyone wishing to submit themselves into the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly,” he warned, “if chosen there’s no turning back. As of this moment, the TriWizard tournament has begun.” Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle all gushed about how they could possibly get their name into the goblet without getting caught. We were now allowed to leave the hall as we wished and I happily made my way down to the dungeon where I could find some rare privacy.  
Artemis was waiting for me on my bed lined with green silk comforters. Her blotchy black and white fur was already leaving a trail on the fresh bed.  
“Bad kitty,” I kissed the top of her head and placed her in my lap and sat back against my headboard. I thrived there, in the darkness of the dungeon hearing nothing but the euphoric sound of silence and the rumble of Artemis’ purr. I knew that over the next few months the school would be even more chaotic than usual with the additions of the several extra students it earned and the excitement of the games. The last thing that either my brother or I needed was extra chaos while we were at Hogwarts.  
“Let the games begin,” I muttered to myself and blew out the single candle next to my bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it. In case you were wondering, I decided to mix the movies and the books. I also decided to keep the fashion more modern since I am not entirely well versed in nineties fashion and am not a fan of it either (minus some aspects).


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